“The Man Behind the Counter”
Written for JRNL 3220
March 2013
“White or Wheat?”
Manuel Montes doesn’t speak much English, but he asks these three words loud and
proud, his thick Spanish accent hard to miss.
He grins so hard from behind the counter that...
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“The Man Behind the Counter”
Written for JRNL 3220
March 2013
“White or Wheat?”
Manuel Montes doesn’t speak much English, but he asks these three words loud and
proud, his thick Spanish accent hard to miss.
He grins so hard from behind the counter that his
eyes become little slits.
He pulls out the white hoagie bun, cuts it open and slides it down the
assembly line.
On to the next.
“White or Wheat?”
He has had a lot of practice.
Manuel is 70 years old, but his sandwich making skills are those of a man much younger.
Monday through Friday, hundreds of Auburn students eat at Lupton’s Deli, a sandwich shop
nestled among the University’s lower quad dorms, and are greeted by an ever present, ever
smiling Manuel.
He has been working in the food services at Auburn for six years.
Talking to Manuel feels like talking to your grandfather.
But only if your grandfather is
as jolly as Santa, makes you sandwiches and laughs at all your jokes.
Manuel’s only daughter,
Ligia Bosio, the younges
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